


Cursed Cities

by DDDemosthenes_1986



Series: Batman One-Shots [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Gang Leader Bruce Wayne, Gotham, Kidnapped Damian Wayne, Native American/First Nations Legends & Lore, Police Officer AU, Reveals, Running Away, Sheriff Dick Grayson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-21 06:05:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18138407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DDDemosthenes_1986/pseuds/DDDemosthenes_1986
Summary: Sheriff Dick Grayson gets a radio call and ends up with more trouble on his hands than  he knows what to do with, trouble in the form of a little boy who doesn’t exactly act his age





	Cursed Cities

"All available units, we have a 207 at Citation Blvd. on the East side of Gotham Bay with reports of a 245."

 

Dick Grayson looked at the radio in disgust, he'd never liked the 245s. He straightened his cap and picked up the radio, looking back out onto the road as he drove his cruiser faster. "Copy that, this is Deputy Sheriff Grayson, will arrive in 20."

 

The deputy put the radio back and silence filled the air around him until the radio flared to life again with a staticky, "Roger that, Deputy."

 

Dick Grayson, or rather Deputy Sheriff Grayson now, a product of his recent promotion, loved his job, he really did. He loved the people he worked with, he loved the feeling of doing something bigger than yourself; he was a bit 'ridiculously virtuous' as his partner Lieutenant Todd liked to tell him. Doing good for others had always been his calling, had been since he was little and still lived in Romania where he remembered teaching the village kids gymnastics tricks before his family departed for another circus tour. It was what made him Dick Grayson.

 

Todd always told him that his heart was bigger than a city and if there was a particular city that needed it the most, it was Gotham. 

 

The week before his parents arrived in Gotham, exactly two weeks before their deaths, his mother told him a town legend, how the founders of Gotham, the original settlers, forcibly took Native land. The Natives demanded their land back and the settlers only laughed and laughed and laughed. 

 

The natives were insulted and enraged, and fought against the invaders of the land. The next weeks they were defeated harshly in almost every battle and lost many of their tribe members. The next day they were forced off the land and as they left, with the laughter of the settlers taunting them, the chief turned back and cursed the city of Gotham and its people, for all of eternity. He cursed them so that they would never laugh again.

 

Even if the story had been seemed false to him, it still managed to instill fear deep into his young, impressionable mind. Twenty years later, that fear was still there and he was older now to realize that his fear would never leave. Especially not in a city like this.

 

This town was cursed by every sense of the word but he couldn't bring himself to leave. Even after he got out of high school, or the orphanage, or college. This town needed him, even if it had taken everything from him.

 

He pulled up to the building mentioned on the broadcasted location, the three cop cars flashing around it was enough indication that he was in the right place. Dick hopped out of the car and walked to the spot where a couple of cops stood around talking, looking back at the building every so often. 

 

When he arrived, a cop who he identified as his friend, Lieutenant Jason Todd, turned to him with a teasing grin, "Nice of you to join us, Sheriff." 

 

Dick rolled his eyes at the jab and ignored him, looking back at the other two officers, he asked, "Any information on the situation, gentlemen?"

 

The two cops shook their heads as the shorter one of the two, whose badge read Espinoza, said, "We tried to find an opening but all the entrances we found were locked up tight."

 

The other cop, Lawrence, continued on, shaking his blonde hair in obvious irritation, "We tried to signal any possible occupants of the building but nobody has responded, the place seems dead, Deputy."

 

Dick nodded his head and pushed his hat tighter on his head in anger. "Do you think this was a scam?"

 

Jason shrugged. "Probably, there doesn't seem to be any signs of life."

 

Dick huffed, "We better check inside anyways. Wouldn't want head office on our tails again."

 

The other officers chuckled in casual agreement and stalked towards the building.

 

Officer Espinoza broke through the main door after retrieving a crowbar from the trunk of his cop car. They stepped carefully over the broken wood and drew their flashlights, shining them into the vast, dark space.

 

As they walked in and checked the perimeter, Jason walked up to him and shoved him playfully. "How does it feel hanging around with us common folk, Deputy? We promise not to drag you down." Jason drawled teasingly.

 

Dick rolled his eyes. "Just because I got promoted doesn't mean I stop doing my job, Jason. Stop messing around and get to work, officer."

 

Jason gave him a mock salute and said, "Sure thing, your highness." 

 

Dick watched him run off to join the other officers upstairs and rolled his eyes again.

 

As he made to go after his subordinates upstairs, the static of his radio turned on. "Deputy Grayson?" It crackled sharply.

 

Dick frowned in confusion and put the radio near his mouth. "Yes, Dispatch?"

 

"We've gotten reports of elevated gang activity near your area. Just wanted to tell you to be on the look out." The dispatch responded.

 

"Well that's odd, we're not even near any gang territories," Dick said, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he felt exhaustion building up in the area.

 

"That is correct, Deputy." 

 

"Well, keep me updated, dispatch." He sighed.

 

"Of course." The radio cracked out and became quiet again.

 

Dick turned at the sound of steps coming down stairs and saw Jason and Espinoza. He walked over to them and asked, "Where's Lawrence?"

 

Jason responded, "He's checking the rest of the rooms, said he heard something but I think it's all in his head."

 

Espinoza yawned slightly and cracked his back. "Well, looking like it's gonna be a quiet night, men. Let's hope it stays that way."

 

"Don't jinx it, Espinoza, full moon tonight." Jason said.

 

"And why does that matter?" Dick distractedly responded, looking back at his radio incase of news.

 

"Everyone knows Indians believed curses became stronger during full moons." Jason said, waving his hands in a 'scary' way.

 

Dick rolled his eyes at the childish act. "Oh please."

 

They chatted quietly to themselves when a yell came from upstairs that made them all freeze. Lawrence came running down the steps, he looked at them with a pale face and sweat running down his forehead.

 

"There's someone up here." He said, looking shaken.

 

The three of them stopped dead in their spots and Dick felt fear rise up but he stubbornly pushed it down. Dick rushed upstairs with Lawrence close behind him with Jason following, he yelled for to Ezpinosa stay behind as lookout.

 

Dick walked down the hallway of the upstairs rooms in a hurry, the old wood flooring creaking in protest of his heavy steps. He turned to Lawrence, who still looked shaken. "Where are they?"

 

Lawrence, not seeming to be able to get words out, raised a shaking arm and pointed to the room at the end of the hallway.

 

Dick started off to the door, drawing his gun from its holster. He looked towards Jason and said, "We barge in, alright?" Jason nodded and gulped.

 

They slowly approached the opened door and together kicked it open with their guns out in front of them. 

 

He and Jason looked down in horror at the puddle of red liquid they were greeted with. They're eyes followed it until the middle where two bodies lay dead. 

He heard Jason wheeze out a curse next to him. Sensing movement from the corner of his eye, Dick raised his gun and looked to the corner of the room, shocked when he saw a young boy. His knees were drawn in protectively with his arms wrapped around his legs and his head on his knees, he rocked himself in a soothing manner.

 

At this sight, Dick was the one who cursed out loud and rushed forward, dropping to his knees in front of the boy. He raised his hand to pet his back soothingly but he stopped himself and instead asked, "Kid, are you ok?"

 

The boy only rocked faster and Dick looked back to Jason with a pointed look in his eye, Jason straightened and gulped again, "I'll j-just go downstairs and call for some ambulances," he whispered and speeded out of the room.

 

Dick turned his full attention back on the kid and said, "Hello, there. My name is Dick Grayson and I'm Deputy Sheriff of the GCPD. I'm here to help you, alright? Can you tell me what happened?"

 

The boy froze for a couple seconds and Dick waited for him to tell him what had happened but instead the boy only drew himself in farther and continued rocking. Dick nodded in understanding, saying, "That's ok, kid, you don't have to tell me now, it's fine. But we should get out of here, is that alright? Can I carry you outside?"

 

The boy seemed to respond to his question and stopped his rocking, taking that as permission, Dick wrapped him in his arms and carried him out of the door, stepping over the bodies on the floor.

 

By the time he made it down the stairs, the boy had wrapped his hands over his uniform and held on tightly. The sounds of the ambulances outside rang sharply and made the kid hold on to him tighter. Dick brought him over to his friend who was nurse and stood stationed outside. "What's wrong with him?" She immediately asked upon seeing the boy wrapped around him.

 

"Definitely trauma but I haven't been able to see his face or examine him completely," Dick said.

 

The nurse took hold of the boy and set him down on the edge of the ambulance door. "Hello there, my name is Barbara Gordon, I'm a nurse at Gotham General. Can I examine you, sweetie?"

 

The boy only tensed again and, much to Dick's surprise, raised his head shyly. Bright green eyes, that looked too old to be on the face of a child, looked sharply at him as the boy untangled himself. Dick looked down back at him and noticed that his hands were tainted red with blood.

 

The boy pushed his hands out in and they shook with nerves as they went straightened in front of him. The kid dropped his head down as Dick and Barbara looked at each other in confusion.

 

Dick started towards him. "Kid, what's wrong?"

 

The boy shook his head, his short hair waving slightly. "The m-men in that room..."

 

Dick sighed and rubbed his forehead, ignoring Barbara who turned to him with a confused look, "I am so sorry that you had to see that, maybe you can tell us some information so we can catch the cul-"

 

The boy started to shake more. "It was... it was me, I d-did it," he pushed his hands out farther, almost as if he surrendered himself to Dick.

 

Dick turned to Barbara with a look of shock and she looked at him with a face of disbelief. Dick stalked closer to the boy who shook now with tears and not trauma, he went down on his knees and swallowed, not knowing how to start. "I'm not going to do this right now, whatever happened it'll be dealt with later. You gotta tell us how you are first, ok?" Dick whispered to the boy, running his fingers through his short, black hair soothingly.

 

The boy sniffed his tears back and nodded, looking back up at Dick with water filled eyes and Dick felt his heart break. "Ok thank you, I promise it'll be short, is that fine?" He recurved a nod of permission and started.

 

He prepared his questions mentally when Barbara stepped forward with a pointed look and whispered to him, "What happened?" Dick looked sharply at her and shook his head, he took out a small notepad and pen from his front pocket and flipped to a new page. 

 

Dick looked at the kid's sad eyes and asked, "What's your name and age, buddy?"

 

"Damian Wayne. I'm 12 years old," Damian said, his eyes falling to the ground. Dick wrote down the information quickly and tried to shake off the feeling that he'd heard that name somewhere.

 

"Are you alright? Any injuries? Did somebody hurt you?" Dick rushed out, examining the boy with his eyes.

 

"No, sir, I-I got to them before they could do anything." Both of them flinched discretely at the statement.

 

"How did they find you, Damian?" Dick asked.

 

"They took me while I was walking out of my home," Damian concluded shortly. Dick raised his eyebrows in confusion and asked, "And by walking away from your house, you mean..." Damian looked to his left sharply as Dick cut off, understanding the situation. He put his pen down on the paper again and wrote 'runaway'.

 

"You got any parents?" The cop asked. Damian nodded sharply and looked away, giving no further information. Dick sighed at the boy's tense state and wrote that down on his notepad.

 

"Is there anything you can tell me about them?" He asked softly, not wanting to scare him. 

 

Damian flinched and a reluctant, nervous look came over his face. "I have a mother and a father, the both work in the same field but in different groups you could say and they.... don't like each other much. My father doesn't let me see my mother anymore but I guess that's fine since she hates me," Damian whispered, his face held exhaustion he had only seen in the elderly. Dick shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair.

 

"I'm sorry to hear that, kid," Dick said, his heart clenching at this boy's circumstances, "Can you tell me anything you know on the men who took you here?" Dick asked. 

 

"Yes. They come from a... group who hates both of my parents, I assume they took me in order to get back at them." Damian finished and sighed when Dick looked at him in confusion, already knowing the question he was going to ask, "My parents aren't the kindest people, Officer Grayson."

 

"That's a bit odd, just because they don't like your folks doesn't mean they have to go this far," Dick said. He started to continue his questions when he heard Jason call him over.

 

He stood up, looking down. "I'll be back in a bit to ask the rest of the questions, you stay put, alright kid?" Damian nodded and Barbara put a shock blanket over him as they watched Dick go.

 

Jason jogged up to him and dragged Dick behind a police car, ignoring his protests. Jason looked over the car and watched the area where the ambulance was parked with suspicion. Dick managed to wrench his arm out of Jason's grip and huffed, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" 

 

Jason bit his lips, still looking over the car in the same direction, before he went back down towards Dick. He drummed his fingers, a tick he knew Jason did when he was nervous. He was about call him out again when Jason turned to him and he saw the unnerved look he had. "The kid..."

 

"Yeah, the kid who's interview for central you just interrupted, what about him?" Dick snapped, his confusion and annoyance at this whole situation getting the better of him. 

 

Jason ignored him and looked straight into his eyes, with a stone serious face. "What was his name?"

 

Dick huffed, "What does this have to do with you dragging me here? Just get to the point-"

 

"Shut up and just tell me," Jason snapped.

 

Dick narrowed his eyes in insult and snapped, "He said his name was Damian Wayne."

 

Jason froze, his body tensing and his face turning stone blank unlike his normal mischievous look. Dick had only seen that face when Jason talked about his life in the streets, and that scared Dick a lot. "Jason, what's wrong?" He asked.

 

"Dick... promise me you'll leave that kid alone, don't mess with him?" Jason said in a monotone, his eyes looking spaced out.

 

"Jason I can't do that, this boy needs help and we can help hi-" Dick tried to explain.

 

"No, Dick, we can't!"

 

"We can try-" 

 

"Do you even know who he is?" Jason deadpanned.

 

"Yes, what does even that have to do-"

 

"For gods sake, think!" Jason snapped at him. "His last name, doesn't it sound familiar to you?"

 

Dick opened his mouth to call out his confusion before a light bulb seemed to go off. 

 

Now he knew were the name Wayne seemed familiar from, the infamous Bruce Wayne was the name of one of the most notorious gang bosses in Gotham. He wasn't the major one because another gang was on par with his, the Al Ghuls whose leader Ra's had died two years ago and now was run by his daughter, Talia. 

 

The two gangs constantly warred it out, for territory, ideologies or whatever; it was ridiculous. Their differences made them seem like day and night, where Wayne's gang was more of a large collection of vigilantes trying to "clean up the city", the Al Ghuls were killers working after cleansing the city of "unworthy criminals" and absolute power.

 

Just like Damian described his parents; powerful, heads of "groups", and they didn't seem to like each other. Damian's deadly skills now made since as Wayne's gang was against killing so Damian must've learned those skills from his mother, the Al Ghul leader who thought killing unfit people was justified.

 

His disappearance explained the heightened amount of gang activity around them, they were looking for Damian. Dick gulped nervously at that thought.

 

Jason, who had been watching his face, rolled his eyes in annoyance, "Finally got it, bird brain?"

 

"Wait you didn't have all the same information on him that I had, only his name, how'd you know who he was?" Dick asked

 

"He looked... familiar." Jason said with finality, leaving no room for more questions. Dick sighed at the situation that seemed to get more and more complicated by the minute. He really needed a vacation after this, preferably away from this insane city.

 

"Do you want to tell me what that means?" Dick said in an exhausted manner.

 

Jason looked at him and gave a dry smile, "He looks just like Bruce." Dick frowned at the hurt in his voice, he knew that Jason had been involved in some gang activity when he was younger, with his father dead and mother a junkie, he had to. 

 

Jason had told him of the story of how Bruce had taken him in from the streets and taught him how to fight, he told him how he had died from a fight between gangs. How the Al Ghuls had seen potential in him and taken his corpse to revive him. They tried to make him see that the killing of criminals was good but he ran away knowing that the police where the only ones who could do this all correctly, no children in costumes and no assassins playing God.

 

Jason sighed at the look that briefly flashed through Dick's face, "I don't need pity, Dick, I'm over it," Jason said, Dick only looked at him in annoyed disbelief. 

 

Jason rolled his eyes, "What's up with the kid anyways? Let him leave already, we don't need any more problems with Wayne's gang."

 

Dick shook his head and said, "He ran away from home, Jason, and I was hoping someone, who can relate to him, would console him in ways I can't," He said, looking at Jason with sharp, meaningful eyes and wiggled his eyebrows. 

 

Jason looked at him with an annoyed look and sighed, moving from behind the cop car and walking towards the ambulance. Dick cheered and ran to catch up with him.

 

Together they would help this kid, no, they'd help this city. No gangs, or vigilantes, or police men, but as a city, as Gotham. They would fight for this city together, against Indian curses or even their own. Because this was their home.

 

Jason walked up to Damian and, his face a mask of indifference to hide his pleasure of seeing someone from his past, he said, "Long time no see, eh brat?"

 

Damian sat shocked for a few seconds than smiled slightly, "Good to see you too, helmet head."

**Author's Note:**

> That ending is trashhhh I- @-@
> 
> I don’t really like this chapter lol, I worked so long on it but i don’t even actually like it ;-;
> 
> Last thing, I’ve been trying to get a beta to review my stories and give me ideas, so if you know anyone just hit me up! 
> 
> Bye


End file.
